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18 February 2011

Lessons from a sled dog massacre

In the aftermath of the horrific massacre of 100 sled dogs in British Columbia, Marcie Moriarty, the head of animal cruelty for the B.C. SPCA went on record as saying that even had the organization known that the dogs needed help, they'd have probably ended up killing them all themselves.

Her reason? Working sled dogs are "unadoptable." As she told the Vanouver Sun:

"What people have to realize because of the way they're raised they're not highly adoptable animals. Maybe a few could have been adopted, but these dogs are on tethers 90 percent of their lives."

That sweeping generalization is easy to disprove, simply by meeting any of the thousands of working sled dogs who have successfully made the transition from tether to living room sofa.

"Two of my four sled dogs were adopted as adults from a professional dog racing kennel," said Jo Jacques of Salem, Mass., president of the International Siberian Husky Club. "One was two and the other was nine when we adopted them. Both adore meeting new people and love dogs. They can take Cheerios from babies without even leaving spit on their fingers."

One of the dogs, Viking, grew up in a mushing kennel. Around six months after Jacques had adopted him, she became very ill. "I had a difficult time walking," she said, "Viking never left my side. When I would have to move anywhere, he would paste himself against my left hip and stabilize me. If I fell, he would position himself in front of me and help me up."

Amazingly, Jacques never trained Viking to do this; it was all his idea. "Hearing the SPCA call these dogs 'unadoptable' as a group, sight unseen, without any individual evaluations infuriates me," she said. "It makes me just want to hug my 'unadoptable' sled dogs and cry all day."

Nannette Morgan of Morgan Hill adopted a sled dog named Cricket from a mushing kennel.

"The biggest problem I had with her is that she was used to being outside," Morgan told me. "The first couple of weeks it was hard to get her in the house at night. Then when she'd come in, she'd look up at the ceiling, looking for the stars."

It took only around a month, the companionship of Morgan's other dog, Binks, and what Morgan called "gentle guidance" to get Cricket adjusted to her new life.

"She's totally at home," Morgan said. "She's a princess. She has a chair she likes to sit on. She sleeps on my bed."

Both Jacques and Morgan went into detail about sled dog operations that know how to do right by their dogs, the still-developing sled dog re-homing network, and tips on helping working sled dogs make the adjustment to family pet:

Those stories, along with those of Cricket, Viking and the rest, demonstrate that people who insist sled dogs are "unadoptable" are wrong.

That alone should end the argument, but somehow, it doesn't. The bias of those like the B.C. SPCA and their unnamed "expert" is just too deep to be changed by the facts.

But if the Michael Vick case taught us anything, it's that all dogs being assessed for temperament and the ability to adapt to life as pets deserve an individual evaluation and shouldn't be dismissed as "unadoptable" because they came from a certain background. This is true of dogs like Vick's and the many lesser-known victims of dog fighting rings; it's also true of racing greyhounds and sled dogs.

Comments

Glenye, I had a very sweeping statement there about all kinds of purpose-bred dogs, but it got lost in the editing process. I believe this is a principle that needs to be upheld in general, not something specific to one type of dog or one type of work done by dogs: They are individuals. Treat them that way.

I agree. They are individuals and should be treated that way. Just didn't want pack hounds (or hunting hounds generally) to be left out if there was an opportunity for me to mention them. We hear that "Oh, they can't be adopted" line, too, but we know they can be. As in all dog adoptions, a hound or former hunting hound won't be right for every situation, but they most certainly are adoptable, in my experience.

I have a friend who does sled dog rescue. While they can be more challenging to place, she tells me that they're no more so than most older, less socialized dogs of any breed who come into rescue. It just takes time, patience and some training.

To write an entire breed off as un adoptable and un placeable - isn't that Peta and HSUS' job?

I can't say anything that wasn't already about the mass murder. I find the 'experts' particularly pernicious. People who get up, put on their socks and shoes, and leave their house saying, "I will be an expert on animals today". Going through advanced schooling, writing papers, while seeking & acquiring little to no hands on experience w/ animals, and feeling perfectly comfortable making life altering pronouncements for them.

Bit of a tangent, but I always wonder about people that are so married to their ignorance. I suspect it may be the result of a larger phenomenon: people going into fields to which they are specifically NOT suited. (I have personal experience: When my father died young, my mother shlepped us to numerous psychiatrists, and I was completely gob smacked how many exuded an overwhelming discomfort around other human beings and were full blown misanthropes. I saw the same thing w/ many who choose to work w/ children in other capacities.) I've long wondered if it isn't a common motivating force- that some people are bound and determined to do the one thing they have no affinity for. Fine if your desire is to be actor- but borderline evil if the 'thing' puts you in a powerful position over vulnerable beings.

I am from the area where this happened and we have all been so devastated by this. I do not support the SPCA's position that working dogs are unadoptabled....that is what many said about the Vick dogs and many of them are not only thriving, but some are now therapy dogs.

I have not been the first hands-on trainer to notice that certain degreed "behaviorists" appear to be afraid of dogs -- maybe big dogs, or fast-moving dogs, or dogs with charisma, or working dogs, or unruly dogs, or certain breeds. Or maybe all dogs.

I'm all for people facing their fears and attacking their personal shortcomings.

Just as long as they don't take somebody else down with them. On your own time, please.

I see projection by the nameless US "expert" (if he or she even exists) and the BC SPCA bureaucrat.

"I'm afraid of those fast, vigorous, intense dogs with the icy eyes that see through me. So they are impossible to reconcile with my idea of a pet dog in a home. It's easier for me if someone else just kills them."

They're such emotional, loving, social creatures. It doesn't surprise me in the least to hear such great stories about re-homing the unadoptable dog. We prize dogs for their adaptability then underestimate them categorically. Given love and patience, I bet most of them could be placed in happy homes. That they've been deprived their whole lives in not a justification for continuing to do so in the future. I'm disgusted by the BCSPCA's rationalization. Thanks for the article.

The human race is so violent: domestic abuse, human sex trafficking , rape , war , hate...if any group should be summed up as hopless and killed off ...it is us...ourselves...humans...THAT we would NEVER allow...So who are we, of all beings, to play the hanging judge to others !!!! The Michael Vick case should have taught us better, as was mentioned above.